by Arthur H. Gunther III
Ordinarily, birds would not attract notice in the backyard. Laissez-faire: they go about their life, and I do the same. I do like their singing, chirping, and the fact that they are there, which probably means no horror story like a hurricane is coming or a win by the indecent in the 2020 Election.
So, birds are quite welcome, as I hope I am to the creatures, for I both respect and feed them. But now, rather than a fact of living for this human, birds have become morning companions.
In the time of virus, with so much staying at home, the rituals, the habits, the ordinary doings have changed. We’re no longer rushing out the door to buy the papers, grab the coffee, park the car, and read. In that great quiet, the scene has changed to reading a delivered newspaper, making what may or may not be coffee at home, sitting on the back porch, and having the birds drop in to eat their morning bread at the feeder/birdhouse.
I never knew there were so many bluebirds, and that they are hogs, repeatedly swooping in to grab. There are sparrows, too, and a few colorful birds with red heads or scarlet coloring.
They know when you are heading out to feed them, with the word passed along in rising chatter, the bird world’s telegraph.
All in all, birds are delightful morning guests. Or perhaps, I am now theirs.
Art Gunther is a retired newspaperman. This article was originally published on his blog, thecolumnrule.com.
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